All the priests and other members of the sac rificial assembly and all the demigods, having been defeated by the soldiers of Lord Śiva and injured by weapons like tridents and swords, approached Lord Brahmā with great fear. After offering him obeisances, they began to speak in detail of all the events which had taken place (1-2).Both Lord Brahmā and Viṣṇu had already known that such events would occur in the sac rificial arena of Dakṣa, and knowing before hand, they did not go to the sacrifice (3).When Lord Brahmā heard everything from the demi gods and the members who had attended the sacrifice, he replied: You cannot be happy in executing a sacrifice if you blaspheme a great personality and thereby offend his lotus feet. You cannot have happiness in that way (4).

You have excluded Lord Śiva from taking part in the sacrificial results, and therefore you are all of fenders at his lotus feet. Still, if you go without mental reservations and surrender unto him and fall down at his lotus feet, he will be very pleased (5).Lord Brahmā also advised them that Lord Śiva is so powerful that by his anger all the planets and their chief controllers can be destroyed immediately. Also, he said that Lord Śiva was especially sorry because he had re cently lost his dear wife and was also very much afflicted by the unkind words of Dakṣa. Under the circumstances, Lord Brahmā sug gested, it would behoove them to go at once and beg his pardon (6).Lord Brahmā said that no one not even himself, Indra, all the members assembled in the sacrificial arena or all the sages could know how powerful Lord Śiva is. Under the circumstances, who would dare to commit an offense at his lotus feet? (7)

After thus instructing all the demigods, the Pitās and the lords of the living entities, Lord Brahmā took them with him and left for the abode of Lord Śiva, known as the Kailāsa Hill (8). The abode known as Kailāsa is full of dif ferent herbs and vegetables, and it is sanctified by Vedic hymns and mystic yoga practice. Thus the residents of that abode are demigods by birth and have all mystic powers. Besides them there are other human beings, who are known as Kinnaras and Gandharvas and are ac companied by their beautiful wives, who are known as Apsarās, or angels (9).Kailāsa is full of mountains filled with all kinds of valuable jewels and minerals and surrounded by all va rieties of valuable trees and plants. The top of the hill is nicely decorated by various types of deer (10).There are many waterfalls, and in the mountains there are many beautiful caves in which the very beautiful wives of the mystics are found (11).

On Kailāsa Hill there is always the rhythmical sound of the peacocks’ sweet vi brations and the bees’ humming. Cuckoos are always singing, and other birds whisper amongst themselves (12). There are tall trees with straight branches that appear to call the sweet birds, and when herds of elephants pass through the hills, it appears that the Kailāsa Hill moves with them. When the waterfalls resound, it appears that Kailāsa Hill does also (13). The whole of Kailāsa Hill is decorated with various kinds of trees, of which the following names may be mentioned: mandāra, pārijāta, sarala, tamāla, tāla, kovidāra, āsana, arjuna, āmra-jāti [mango], kadamba, dhūli-kadamba, nāga, punnāga, campaka, pāṭala, aśoka, bakula, kunda and kurabaka. The entire hill is deco rated with such trees, which produce flowers with fragrant aromas (14-15).There are other trees also which decorate the hill, such as the golden lotus flower, the cinnamon tree, mālatī, kubja, and mādhavī (16).Kailāsa Hill is also decorated with such trees as kata, jackfruit, ju lara, banyan trees, plakṣas, nyagrodhas and trees producing asafetida. Also there are trees of betel nuts and bhūrja-patra, as well as rājapūga, blackberries and similar other trees (17).

There are mango trees, priyāla, madhuka and iṅguda. Besides these there are other trees, like thin bamboos, kīcaka and varieties of other bamboo trees, all decorating the tract of Kailāsa Hill (18).There are different kinds of lotus flowers, such as kumuda, utpala and śatapatra. The forest appears to be a decorated garden, and the small lakes are full of various kinds of birds who whisper very sweetly. There are many kinds of other animals also, like deer, monkeys, boars, lions, ṛkṣas, śalyakas, forest cows, forest asses, tigers, small deer, buffalo and many other animals, who are fully enjoying their lives (19-20). There are varieties of deer, such as karṇāntra, ekapada, aśvāsya, vṛka and kastūrī, the deer which bears musk. Besides the deer there are many banana trees which deco rate the small hillside lakes very nicely (21).There is a small lake named Alakanandā in which Satī used to take her bath, and that lake is especially auspicious. All the demigods, after seeing the specific beauty of Kailāsa Hill, were struck with wonder at the great opulence to be found there (22).

Thus the demigods saw the wonderfully beautiful region known as Alakā in the forest known as Saugandhika, which means “full of fragrance.” The forest is known as Sau gandhika because of its abundance of lotus flowers (23). They also saw the two rivers named Nandā and Alakanandā. These two riv ers are sanctified by the dust of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda (24).My dear Kṣattā, Vidura, the celestial dam sels come down to those rivers in their airplanes with their husbands, and after sexual enjoy ment, they enter the water and enjoy sprinkling their husbands with water (25).After the dam sels of the heavenly planets bathe in the water, it becomes yellowish and fragrant due to the kuṅkuma from their bodies. Thus the elephants come to bathe there with their wives, the she elephants, and they also drink the water, alt hough they are not thirsty (26).

The airplanes of the heavenly denizens are bedecked with pearls, gold and many valuable jewels. The heavenly denizens are compared to clouds in the sky decorated with occasional flashes of electric lightning (27).While travel ing, the demigods passed over the forest known as Saugandhika, which is full of varieties of flowers, fruits and desire trees. While passing over the forest, they also saw the regions of Yakṣeśvara (28).In that celestial forest there were many birds whose necks were colored reddish and whose sweet sounds mixed with the humming of the bees. The lakes were abun dantly decorated with crying swans as well as strong-stemmed lotus flowers (29).All these at mospheric influences unsettled the forest ele phants who flocked together in the sandalwood forest, and the blowing wind agitated the minds of the damsels there for further sexual enjoy ment (30).They also saw that the bathing ghāṭas and their staircases were made of vaidūrya maṇi. The water was full of lotus flowers. Pass ing by such lakes, the demigods reached a place where there was a great banyan tree (31). That banyan tree was eight hundred miles high, and its branches spread over six hundred miles around. The tree cast a fine shade which permanently cooled the temperature, yet there was no noise of birds (32).

The demigods saw Lord Śiva sitting under that tree, which was competent to give perfection to mystic yogīs and deliver all people. As grave as time eternal, he appeared to have given up all anger (33).Lord Śiva sat there, surrounded by saintly persons like Kuvera, the master of the Guhyakas, and the four Kumāras, who were al ready liberated souls. Lord Śiva was grave and saintly (34).The demigods saw Lord Śiva situ ated in his perfection as the master of the senses, knowledge, fruitive activities and the path of achieving perfection. He was the friend of the entire world, and by virtue of his full af fection for everyone, he was very auspicious (35).He was seated on a deerskin and was prac ticing all forms of austerity. Because his body was smeared with ashes, he looked like an evening cloud. On his hair was the sign of a half-moon, a symbolic representation (36).He was seated on a straw mattress and speaking to all present, including the great sage Nārada, to whom he specifically spoke about the Absolute Truth (37).

His left leg was placed on his right thigh, and his left hand was placed on his left thigh. [This sitting posture is called vīrāsana.] In his right hand he held rudrākṣa beads, and his finger was in the mode of argument (38).All the sages and demigods, headed by Indra, of fered their respectful obeisances unto Lord Śiva with folded hands. Lord Śiva was dressed in saffron garments and absorbed in trance, thus appearing to be the foremost of all sages (39).Lord Śiva’s lotus feet were worshiped by both the demigods and demons, but still, in spite of his exalted position, as soon as he saw that Lord Brahmā was there among all the other demigods, he immediately stood up and offered him respect by bowing down and touching his lotus feet, just as Vāmanadeva offered His re spectful obeisances to Kaśyapa Muni (40).All the sages who were sitting with Lord Śiva, such as Nārada and others, also offered their respect ful obeisances to Lord Brahmā. After being so worshiped, Lord Brahmā, smiling, began to speak to Lord Śiva (41). Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord Śiva, I know that you are the controller of the entire material manifestation, the combination father and mother of the cosmic manifestation, and the Supreme Brahman beyond the cosmic man ifestation as well. I know you in that way (42).

My dear lord, you create this cosmic manifes tation, maintain it, and annihilate it by expan sion of your personality, exactly as a spider cre ates, maintains and winds up its web (43). My dear lord, Your Lordship has introduced the system of sacrifices through the agency of Dakṣa, and thus one may derive the benefits of religious activities and economic development. Under your regulative principles, the institution of the four varṇās and āśramas is respected. The brāhmaṇas therefore vow to follow this system strictly (44).O most auspicious lord, you have ordained the heavenly planets, the spiritual Vaikuṇṭha planets and the impersonal Brahman sphere as the respective destinations of the per formers of auspicious activities. Similarly, for others, who are miscreants, you have destined different kinds of hells which are horrible and ghastly. Yet sometimes it is found that their destinations are just the opposite. It is very dif ficult to ascertain the cause of this (45). My dear Lord, devotees who have fully ded icated their lives unto your lotus feet certainly observe your presence as Paramātmā in each and every being, and as such they do not differ entiate between one living being and another. Such persons treat all living entities equally. They never become overwhelmed by anger like animals, who can see nothing without differen tiation (46).

Persons who observe everything with differentiation, who are simply attached to fruitive activities, who are mean-minded, who are always pained to see the flourishing condi tion of others and who thus give distress to them by uttering harsh and piercing words have already been killed by providence. Thus there is no need for them to be killed again by an ex alted personality like you (47).My dear lord, if in some places materialists, who are already be wildered by the insurmountable illusory energy of the Supreme Godhead, sometimes commit offenses, a saintly person, with compassion, does not take this seriously. Knowing that they commit offenses because they are overpowered by the illusory energy, he does not show his prowess to counteract them (48).

My dear lord, you are never bewildered by the formidable influence of the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There fore you are omniscient and should be merciful and compassionate toward those who are be wildered by the same illusory energy and are very much attached to fruitive activities (49).My dear Lord Śiva, you are a shareholder of a portion of the sacrifice, and you are the giver of the result. The bad priests did not de liver your share, and therefore you destroyed everything, and the sacrifice remains unfin ished. Now you can do the needful and take your rightful share (50).My dear lord, by your mercy the performer of the sacrifice [King Dakṣa] may get back his life, Bhaga may get back his eyes, Bhṛgu his mustache, and Pūṣā his teeth (51).O Lord Śiva, may the demigods and the priests whose limbs have been broken by your soldiers recover from the injuries by your grace (52).O destroyer of the sacrifice, please take your portion of the sacrifice and let the sacrifice be completed by your grace (53).

Maitreya said: When Lord Śiva heard from Nārada that Satī, his wife, was now dead be cause of Prajāpati Dakṣa’s insult to her and that his soldiers had been driven away by the Ṛbhu demigods, he became greatly angry (1). Thus Lord Śiva, being extremely angry, pressed his lips with his teeth and immediately snatched from his head a strand of hair which blazed like electricity or fire. He stood up at once, laughing like a madman, and dashed the hair to the ground (2).A fearful black demon as high as the sky and as bright as three suns combined was thereby created, his teeth very fearful and the hairs on his head like burning fire. He had thou sands of arms, equipped with various weapons, and he was garlanded with the heads of men (3).

When that gigantic demon asked with folded hands, “What shall I do, my lord?” Lord Śiva, who is known as Bhūtanātha, directly or dered, “Because you are born from my body, you are the chief of all my associates. There fore, kill Dakṣa and his soldiers at the sacri fice.” (4) Maitreya continued: My dear Vidura, that black person was the personified anger of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he was prepared to execute the orders of Lord Śiva. Thus, considering himself capable of coping with any power offered against him, he circum ambulated Lord Śiva (5).Many other soldiers of Lord Śiva followed the fierce personality in a tumultuous uproar. He carried a great trident, fearful enough to kill even death, and on his legs he wore bangles which seemed to roar (6). At that time, all the persons assembled in the sacrificial arena the priests, the chief of the sac rificial performance, and the brāhmaṇas and their wives wondered where the darkness was coming from. Later they could understand that it was a dust storm, and all of them were full of anxiety (7).

Conjecturing on the origin of the storm, they said: There is no wind blowing, and no cows are passing, nor is it possible that this dust storm could be raised by plunderers, for there is still the strong King Barhi, who would punish them. Where is this dust storm blowing from? Is the dissolution of the planet now to oc cur? (8)Prasūti, the wife of Dakṣa, along with the other women assembled, became very anx ious and said: This danger has been created by Dakṣa because of the death of Satī, who, even though completely innocent, quit her body as her sisters looked on (9). At the time of disso lution, Lord Śiva’s hair is scattered, and he pierces the rulers of the different directions with his trident. He laughs and dances proudly, scattering their hands like flags, as thunder scatters the clouds all over the world (10).

The gigantic black man bared his fearful teeth. By the movements of his brows he scattered the lu minaries all over the sky, and he covered them with his strong, piercing effulgence. Because of the miSBehavior of Dakṣa, even Lord Brahmā, Dakṣa’s father, could not have been saved from the great exhibition of anger (11). While all the people talked amongst them selves, Dakṣa saw dangerous omens from all sides, from the earth and from the sky (12).My dear Vidura, all the followers of Lord Śiva sur rounded the arena of sacrifice. They were of short stature and were equipped with various kinds of weapons; their bodies appeared to be like those of sharks, blackish and yellowish. They ran all around the sacrificial arena and thus began to create disturbances (13).Some of the soldiers pulled down the pillars which were supporting the pandal of sacrifice, some of them entered the female quarters, some began destroying the sacrificial arena, and some en tered the kitchen and the residential quarters (14).

They broke all the pots made for use in the sacrifice, and some of them began to extinguish the sacrificial fire. Some tore down the bound ary line of the sacrificial arena, and some passed urine on the arena (15).Some blocked the way of the fleeing sages, some threatened the women assembled there, and some arrested the demigods who were fleeing the pandal (16).Maṇimān, one of the followers of Lord Śiva, arrested Bhṛgu Muni, and Vīrabhadra, the black demon, arrested Prajāpati Dakṣa. An other follower, who was named Caṇḍeśa, ar rested Pūṣā. Nandīśvara arrested the demigod Bhaga (17). There was a continuous shower of stones, and all the priests and other members assem bled at the sacrifice were put into immense mis ery. For fear of their lives, they dispersed in dif ferent directions (18).Vīrabhadra tore off the mustache of Bhṛgu, who was offering the sac rificial oblations with his hands in the fire (19).

Vīrabhadra immediately caught Bhaga, who had been moving his eyebrows during Bhṛgu’s cursing of Lord Śiva, and out of great anger thrust him to the ground and forcibly put out his eyes (20). Just as Baladeva knocked out the teeth of Dantavakra, the King of Kaliṅga, during the gambling match at the marriage cer emony of Aniruddha, Vīrabhadra knocked out the teeth of both Dakṣa, who had shown them while cursing Lord Śiva, and Pūṣā, who by smiling sympathetically had also shown his teeth (21).Then Vīrabhadra, the giantlike per sonality, sat on the chest of Dakṣa and tried to separate his head from his body with sharp weapons, but was unsuccessful (22). He tried to cut the head of Dakṣa with hymns as well as weapons, but still it was hard to cut even the surface of the skin of Dakṣa’s head. Thus Vīrabhadra was exceedingly bewildered (23).Then Vīrabhadra saw the wooden device in the sacrificial arena by which the animals were to have been killed. He took the oppor tunity of this facility to behead Dakṣa (24).

Upon seeing the action of Vīrabhadra, the party of Lord Śiva was pleased and cried out joyfully, and all the bhūtas, ghosts and demons that had come made a tumultuous sound. On the other hand, the brāhmaṇas in charge of the sacrifice cried out in grief at the death of Dakṣa (25).Vīrabhadra then took the head and with great anger threw it into the southern side of the sacrificial fire, offering it as an oblation. In this way the followers of Lord Śiva devastated all the arrangements for sacrifice. After setting fire to the whole arena, they departed for their mas ter’s abode, Kailāsa (26).

cSatī felt very sorry at being forbidden to go see her relatives at her father’s house, and due to affection for them, tears fell from her eyes. Shaking and very much afflicted, she looked at her uncommon husband, Lord Śiva, as if she were going to blast him with her vision (2).Thereafter Satī left her husband, Lord Śiva, who had given her half his body due to affec tion. Breathing very heavily because of anger and bereavement, she went to the house of her father. This less intelligent act was due to her being a weak woman (3).When they saw Satī leaving alone very rapidly, thousands of Lord Śiva’s disciples, headed by Maṇimān and Mada, quickly followed her with his bull Nandi in front and accompanied by the Yakṣas (4).

The disciples of Lord Śiva arranged for Satī to be seated on the back of a bull and gave her the bird which was her pet. They bore a lotus flower, a mirror and all such paraphernalia for her enjoyment and covered her with a great canopy. Followed by a singing party with drums, conchshells and bugles, the entire pro cession was as pompous as a royal parade (5). She then reached her father’s house, where the sacrifice was being performed, and entered the arena where everyone was chanting the Ve dic hymns. The great sages, brāhmaṇas and demigods were all assembled there, and there were many sacrificial animals, as well as pots made of clay, stone, gold, grass and skin, which were all requisite for the sacrifice (6).When Satī, with her followers, reached the arena, be cause all the people assembled were afraid of Dakṣa, none of them received her well. No one welcomed her but her mother and sisters, who, with tears in their eyes and with glad faces, wel comed her and talked with her very pleasingly (7).

Although she was received by her sisters and mother, she did not reply to their words of reception, and although she was offered a seat and presents, she did not accept anything, for her father neither talked with her nor welcomed her by asking about her welfare (8). Present in the arena of sacrifice, Satī saw that there were no oblations for her husband, Lord Śiva. Next she realized that not only had her father failed to invite Lord Śiva, but when he saw Lord Śiva’s exalted wife, Dakṣa did not receive her either. Thus she became greatly an gry, so much so that she looked at her father as if she were going to burn him with her eyes (9).The followers of Lord Śiva, the ghosts, were ready to injure or kill Dakṣa, but Satī stopped them by her order. She was very angry and sorrowful, and in that mood she began to condemn the process of sacrificial fruitive ac tivities and persons who are very proud of such unnecessary and troublesome sacrifices. She especially condemned her father, speaking against him in the presence of all (10).

The blessed Goddess said: Lord Śiva is the most beloved of all living entities. He has no rival. No one is very dear to him, and no one is his enemy. No one but you could be envious of such a universal being, who is free from all en mity (11). Twice-born Dakṣa, a man like you can simply find fault in the qualities of others. Lord Śiva, however, not only finds no faults with others’ qualities, but if someone has a little good quality, he magnifies it greatly. Unfortu nately, you have found fault with such a great soul (12). It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material body as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the part of materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall down. They are diminished by the dust of the feet of great personalities (13). Satī continued: My dear father, you are committing the greatest offense by envying Lord Śiva, whose very name, consisting of two syllables, śi and va, pu rifies one of all sinful activities. His order is never neglected. Lord Śiva is always pure, and no one but you envies him (14).

You are envi ous of Lord Śiva, who is the friend of all living entities within the three worlds. For the com mon man he fulfills all desires, and because of their engagement in thinking of his lotus feet, he also blesses higher personalities who are seeking after brahmānanda [transcendental bliss] (15). Do you think that greater, more respectable personalities than you, such as Lord Brahmā, do not know this inauspicious person who goes under the name Lord Śiva? He associates with the demons in the crematorium, his locks of hair are scattered all over his body, and he is garlanded with human skulls and smeared with ashes from the crematorium, but in spite of all these inauspicious qualities, great personalities like Brahmā honor him by accepting the flow ers offered to his lotus feet and placing them with great respect on their heads (16).Satī con tinued: If one hears an irresponsible person blaspheme the master and controller of reli gion, one should block his ears and go away if unable to punish him. But if one is able to kill, then one should by force cut out the blas phemer’s tongue and kill the offender, and after that one should give up his own life (17).

There fore I shall no longer bear this unworthy body, which has been received from you, who have blasphemed Lord Śiva. If someone has taken food which is poisonous, the best treatment is to vomit (18).It is better to execute one’s own occupational duty than to criticize others’. Ele vated transcendentalists may sometimes forgo the rules and regulations of the Vedas, since they do not need to follow them, just as the demigods travel in space whereas ordinary men travel on the surface of the earth (19).

In the Ve das there are directions for two kinds of activi ties activities for those who are attached to ma terial enjoyment and activities for those who are materially detached. In consideration of these two kinds of activities, there are two kinds of people, who have different symptoms. If one wants to see two kinds of activities in one person, that is contradictory. But both kinds of activities may be neglected by a person who is transcendentally situated (20). My dear father, the opulence we possess is impossible for either you or your flatterers to imagine, for persons who engage in fruitive ac tivities by performing great sacrifices are con cerned with satisfying their bodily necessities by eating foodstuff offered as a sacrifice. We can exhibit our opulences simply by desiring to do so. This can be achieved only by great per sonalities who are renounced, self-realized souls (21).You are an offender at the lotus feet of Lord Śiva, and unfortunately I have a body produced from yours. I am very much ashamed of our bodily relationship, and I condemn my self because my body is contaminated by a re lationship with a person who is an offender at the lotus feet of the greatest personality (22).

Because of our family relationship, when Lord Śiva addresses me as Dākṣāyaṇī I at once be come morose, and my jolliness and my smile at once disappear. I feel very much sorry that my body, which is just like a bag, has been pro duced by you. I shall therefore give it up (23). Maitreya the sage told Vidura: O annihi lator of enemies, while thus speaking to her fa ther in the arena of sacrifice, Satī sat down on the ground and faced north. Dressed in saffron garments, she sanctified herself with water and closed her eyes to absorb herself in the process of mystic yoga (24).First of all she sat in the required sitting posture, and then she carried the life air upwards and placed it in the position of equilibrium near the navel. Then she raised her life air, mixed with intelligence, to the heart and then gradually towards the pulmonary pas sage, and from there to between her eyebrows (25).

Thus, in order to give up her body, which had been so respectfully and affectionately seated on the lap of Lord Śiva, who is wor shiped by great sages and saints, Satī, due to anger towards her father, began to meditate on the fiery air within the body (26).Satī concen trated all her meditation on the holy lotus feet of her husband, Lord Śiva, who is the supreme spiritual master of all the world. Thus she be came completely cleansed of all taints of sin and quit her body in a blazing fire by medita tion on the fiery elements (27). When Satī annihilated her body in anger, there was a tumultuous roar all over the uni verse. Why had Satī, the wife of the most re spectable demigod, Lord Śiva, quit her body in such a manner? (28) It was astonishing that Dakṣa, who was Prajāpati, the maintainer of all living entities, was so disrespectful to his own daughter Satī, who was not only chaste but was also a great soul, that she gave up her body be cause of his neglect (29).Dakṣa, who is so hard hearted that he is unworthy to be a brāhmaṇa, will gain extensive ill fame because of his of fenses to his daughter, because of not having prevented her death, and because of his great envy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (30).

While people were talking among them selves about the wonderful voluntary death of Satī, the attendants who had come with her readied themselves to kill Dakṣa with their weapons (31).They came forward forcibly, but Bhṛgu Muni saw the danger and, offering obla tions into the southern side of the sacrificial fire, immediately uttered mantric hymns from the Yajur Veda by which the destroyers of yaj ñic performances could be killed immediately (32). When Bhṛgu Muni offered oblations in the fire, immediately many thousands of demi gods named Ṛbhus became manifested. All of them were powerful, having achieved strength from Soma, the moon (33).When the Ṛbhu demigods attacked the ghosts and Guhyakas with half-burned fuel from the yajña fire, all these attendants of Satī fled in different direc tions and disappeared. This was possible simply because of brahma-tejas, brahminical power (34)